"A bad news and a good news, which one do you want to hear first?"
"Let's hear the bad news first."
"The bad news is that we lost to Brazil and missed the World Cup semi-finals."
"This is so sad, but I'm prepared for it. What's the good news?"
"At least we don't have to face the barbaric and shameless South Korean team."
"Oh God, poor Spain."
After getting up in the morning, Barron called Bonnie - after returning to London, she had been very busy with work recently because of the previous holiday, and she also had to write the novel "Downton Abbey" in the remaining time, so they had not had the opportunity to meet in the past few days. He could only take the time to call and say hello.
"Are you still so busy lately, beautiful Ms. Bonnie?"
"Yes, but I will have a break soon. But I am very happy to have your concern, handsome Mr. Barron."
"I'm looking forward to your vacation, Bonnie. I think you can go to a beautiful place to write..."
"Like Chatsworth House?"
"Wow, what a great idea. I'm sure they will be eager to welcome you there..."
"You can think about it, I think."
Seeing Ramos coming in with breakfast, Barron motioned him to put the breakfast on the table beside the window. With a smile on his face, he continued to speak into the microphone:
"By the way, Bonnie, I have received an invitation from Viscount Bute to attend a dance at their house tonight. Will you go then?"
"I heard about it from my cousin, but unfortunately, I have work today, you know, Barron, so... I hope you have fun tonight."
"It was fun, but now it seems to me like just a boring social interaction."
"If you put it that way, Barron, then I'm afraid I'll have to prepare my pumpkin carriage and crystal slippers next time..."
…
By now, Barron has noticed the importance of obtaining news, or intelligence.
If he had been able to obtain information about the planned transformation of King's Cross from the beginning - not to mention this, even if it was just the transfer of land surrounding the "Siamese Triplets" site - then he would have been able to take the initiative in the negotiations with Viscount Bute.
Fortunately, Barron had come to London in his previous life, twenty years later, so he did not suffer any real loss through analysis.
Otherwise, if someone else encountered the same situation as his family, they would probably sell the land to Viscount Bute in exchange for cash.
But there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, after an accident happened in his family, Barron became the only heir.
It can be said that many of the family's previous relationships - whether with other families or with some politicians around the family's fiefdom - did not continue smoothly.
You know, before this, Barron's father was in his prime, and his brother was also being trained as the heir. In addition, Barron's previous personality had no interest in family affairs at all.
It can be said that as the heir of the Devonshire family, Barron's brother is the one who has always been brought up by his father and has continued the family's various relationships.
Now that his brother had died unexpectedly, along with his father and grandmother, Barron was the only heir left who had never participated in family affairs. As a result, the continuity of those relationships had been interrupted, and Barron would need to spend some effort to reestablish these connections...
This is also the reason why Barron still kept Yulia temporarily even though his previous attitude towards Barron was... somewhat distrustful.
After all, in addition to her better understanding of the family trust fund, there are also many previous family connections. As the manager of the family fund, she will be more or less involved. Therefore, at this time, it can be said that she is the person who can best help Barron rebuild his family relationship network.
A mature leader will not decide whether to keep someone based solely on their attitude. Otherwise, only flatterers will stay. Instead, he needs to measure the value of the other person. For a valuable person, some differences in attitude are tolerable.
Of course, if Yulia still cannot change her attitude after taking charge of the family business, then there will be no need for her to stay after her value is exhausted.
…
Traditional nobles were always happy to hold various social gatherings, and each gathering would often be extremely sophisticated and grand in scale.
Of course, the basis for these ritualistic, luxurious and complicated gatherings to be able to proceed is that in the glorious era of the aristocracy, land economy was the mainstream of society, and the nobles who occupied vast tracts of land therefore had the financial resources to support them.
However, with the emergence of more advanced and efficient productivity, the mainstream of social wealth distribution began to shift to emerging industries. In addition, the two world wars caused heavy losses to the British aristocratic families. The aristocracy as a class was gradually declining. Therefore, there were fewer and fewer aristocratic families that could still provide such grand gatherings as in the past.
The ball that Barron attended this time, which was initiated by Viscount Bute, was not grand in scale, but it was very luxurious. Such balls usually require preparations a long time in advance.
However, the Bute family, to which Viscount Bute belongs, has the financial resources to host such a ball.
After all, the ancestors of the Bute family once obtained a large amount of mineral resources in Wales. It can even be said that the Bute family played a decisive role in the development of Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
For example, the Port of Cardiff was originally built by Bute II of the Bute family in order to transport the coal produced there. Later, the Bute family donated their properties such as Cardiff Castle and Bute Park to the local government.
It can be said that during the time of Bute II, the Bute family was one of the richest families in the world. Even now, the Bute family's foundation is still deep. Even if Viscount Bute, as the heir to the family, only develops alone in London, the resources he can mobilize are also very abundant.
Many aristocrats, wealthy businessmen and celebrities in London attended the ball held at Viscount Bute's residence in Chelsea, which can be said to have fully demonstrated Viscount Bute's network of contacts.
As a sign of respect, Barron was dressed to the nines today, wearing a well-fitting hand-sewn suit and straight trousers. Coupled with his handsome appearance, he attracted the attention of many aristocratic ladies after arriving here.
"Hello, can I invite you to dance?"
To the sound of soft music, many men and women were dancing gracefully in the hall. In this kind of dance, the most popular dance was naturally the waltz.
Hearing someone's invitation, Barron looked over and found a tall, beautiful woman in a dress standing next to him.
The other person had light blond hair, wore a light blue dress, and was about 180cm tall, which was very eye-catching.
"My name is Gabriel, you can call me Ella."
"Hello, my name is Barron, Barron Cavendish."
"I know you, Your Highness."
The girl's posture was very elegant, and she asked again:
"Can we dance together?"